Five DIY hacks to survive a space emergency

Snorkels could become lifesavers on the International Space Station. NASA announced on Wednesday that during a series of three spacewalks scheduled for the coming week, astronauts Rick Mastracchio and Mike Hopkins will replace a failed pump module on the station’s exterior – part of the ISS’s vital cooling system – with this unusual tool to protect them. Find out how snorkels could save the astronauts’ lives in our rundown of surprising gear that has turned out to be vital in space.

1. Safety snorkel

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During the spacewalks, the last of which takes place on Christmas day, Hopkins will be wearing the same spacesuit used by Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano, who nearly drowned in July when his helmet started filling with water. Spacesuits contain water for both cooling and drinking. NASA investigators have since concluded that the most likely cause of Parmitano’s problem was contamination in the cooling system that blocked a filter – but have yet to identify the exact source.

The relevant components have been cleaned and replaced, but NASA isn’t taken any risks. The ISS astronauts have now fashioned snorkels from plastic tubes and Velcro already on the station. These will run internally from the front of the helmet to the chest of the spacesuit, allowing astronauts to breathe air from the lower part of the suit in the event of a leak filling the helmet. An absorbent pad on the back of the helmet will also soak up any free-floating water.

2. Toothbrush-tastic

An ISS repair last year involved a vital tool adapted from a spare toothbrush. Astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihiko Hoshide had struggled to replace a power unit on the outside of the station during a previous spacewalk because one of the securing bolts would not go back in. On a second attempt, they used improvised cleaning tools, including one made from a toothbrush, to remove metal shavings from the hole and fix the bolt in place.

In 2006 Michael Fossum and Piers Sellers used a caulk gun, of the kind used to seal gaps between bathroom tiles, to fill gaps in sample heat-shield tiles during a spacewalk outside the shuttle Discovery. They then used a spatula to smooth out the material, getting rid of any bubbles that could cause problems during re-entry. During the spacewalk, Sellers let go of his spatula and it went drifting off into orbit.

5. Apollo 13, we have plastic bags

The granddaddy of all space repairs took place during the Apollo 13 mission. When an oxygen tank exploded en route to the moon, threatening astronauts James Lovell, Jack Swigert and Fred Haise with suffocation, NASA engineers on the ground were forced to come up with a solution using only the materials on board. Plastic bags, cardboard and duct tape helped a square carbon dioxide scrubber fit in a slot designed to take a round cartridge, saving the lives of the crew.